Billy Galvin has been at the Statehouse longer than Josh Zakim has been alive.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Except for the possibility that Galvin, the veteran secretary of state, may for the first time in his long political career face serious Democrat primary opposition.

And the question is: Does Galvin face a bridge too far?

The challenger is Josh Zakim, 33, a Boston city councilor, who is seeking to oust Galvin. If the name is familiar it is because the Zakim Bridge is named after his father.

Ordinarily, a bridgeless Zakim would be no big deal. Galvin, 67, would be a shoo-in for re-election to the office he has held since 1995 -- or for six four-year terms.

Nobody as a rule, disturbs or defeats incumbents who hold one of the three minor state constitutional offices, secretary of state, state treasurer and state auditor.

Most voters do not know much, or care, about the offices or what they do.

People elected to those offices, mostly Democrats, serve sleepily undisturbed for a lifetime if they so choose.

But this time it is different. Not only does Zakim have a famous name, in that the iconic Zakim Bridge is named after the late Leonard P. Zakim, a civil rights activist, but he has an issue.

His father may have given Josh Zakim the name, but Billy Galvin gave him the issue, and the issue is whether Galvin has been in office too long.

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The issue also is Galvin's nasty and heated conversation with Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera over Zakim's candidacy.

As related by the mayor, the profanity-laden telephone conversation may be an indication that Galvin has lost his cool over Zakim, and Rivera's endorsement of his candidacy.

Galvin is a loner, so aloof and standoffish that he wouldn't tell you if your coat was on fire. So, it is obvious that Zakim's candidacy has unnerved him.

According to the mayor, as reported by Matt Murphy of the State House News Service, Galvin in a phone call accused Rivera of disloyalty. The Galvin call came on the night Rivera announced his endorsement of Zakim.

Rivera said Galvin suggested that he owed him his close election victory in 2013, which he won by 81 votes, because the secretary of state's office monitored the voting.

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